Briceno Named SEC Men's Tennis Player of the Week
Friday, February 29, 2008 | Men's Tennis
University of Florida men's tennis senior Nestor Briceno (Pembroke Pines) was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week as announced by the league Tuesday afternoon.
Briceno became the eighth different player in the history of the program to earn the honor joining the following: Chris Brandi (Feb. 8, 2005); Jesse Levine (Feb. 6, 2007; March 13, 2007); Hamid Mirzadeh (April 5, 2004, April 18, 2005); Jeff Morrison (Feb. 9, 2000; April 11, 2000); Vladimir Obradovic (Feb, 7, 2006); Justin O'Neal (March 28, 2000) and Greg Ouellette (Jan. 25, 2005, Jan. 31, 2006).
Briceno made his first and highest appearances of the season on the No. 2 singles courts where he came up with a pair of wins this week. On Sunday, Briceno edged No. 77 Ruben Gonzales, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (6), to help the Gators knock off No. 9 Illinois, 6-1. The win stopped a streak of five-straight victories for the Illini in the series.
A day later, the Gators returned to the courts and although the Gators came up short against No. 22 Pepperdine (4-3), Briceno slipped past Pepperdine's Omar Altmann, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4 to tie the match at three despite trailing in the third set, 4-2.
On the doubles courts, Briceno teamed with freshman Alex Lacroix (Paris, France) for two wins. The pair lead the Gators with a 7-1 dual match record.
